


the art of not leaving

by orphan_account



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty is Not Good in this, Emotional Abuse, F/F, Mentions of Emotional Abuse, unhealty relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 16:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10167446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In which Betty breaks Veronica's heart and Cheryl puts it back together again.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I've absolutely fallen in love with Cheronica and there really needs to be more content for this ship so here you go, as I said in the tags this fanfic will deal with themes of emotional abuse so just warning you! I also published this on wattpad under the username 'cherylbIossom'

Veronica still gets the urge to contact Betty Cooper every once in a while, it will sneak up on her when she's doing the dishes or vacuuming or some other mundane chore. It's like a vicious wolf who sleeps in the back of her subconscious until god knows what rouses it, then it bothers  her and prods at her until her eyes welled with tears.

' I miss you ' she prepares to text the blonde, her finger hovering over the send button. God she wants to send it sometimes, but something always stops her. Maybe it's the part of her that still cares about her wellbeing.

The silence just grows thicker and colder and harder to breach over the weeks that turn into months that turned into years. But the pain, the darkness that swallows her whole world fades until she barely feels it anymore – except when something reminds her of Betty. Then she'll feel it again, like Betty had just left with not even a parting ' I love you ' all over again.

* * *

    Veronica's standing in line at a Starbucks one Sunday afternoon when she hears 

   "Veronica Lodge" Veronica whips around at the sound of her name to see a woman with long red tresses of hair and scarlet lips peering at her over a pair of expensive sunglasses. Cheryl Blossom. "That is you" she says, grinning.

  "Cheryl" Veronica smiles, a genuine smile. It's nice to see a familiar face. She and Cheryl had a brief friendship before Betty had come and stolen her from everyone else and she'd always wondered what Cheryl had gotten up to after high school. 

  "Let's get lunch somewhere" Cheryl propositions

   So they do.

* * *

   Cheryl tells Veronica all about her life, she's a crime scene investigator and they discover she lives only a block away from Veronica. 

   In turn Veronica tells Cheryl about  her life as photographer for a fashion magazine.

   When it's over Cheryl says 

    "This was fun, let's do this again. Same time next week" Veronica finds herself nodding, because much to her surprise she had fun too.

* * *

   Sunday lunch becomes a tradition for the two of them and soon – within a few short months – their friendship spills past Sunday afternoons and begins to creep into their real lives. Cheryl doesn't appear to mind and Veronica certainly doesn't.

  It's not long before they become permanent fixtures in one another's lives, they have keys to each others apartment and they know all the  intimate, seemingly unimportant details that only the closest people to you know like how Veronica was positively terrified of spiders or how Cheryl's favorite flavor of Ice cream is black raspberry.

   And Veronica can barely remember how she made it through a day without Cheryl Blossom always right by her side with comforting words or a witty quip ready on her tongue. 

* * * 

   It's Cheryl who first acts on the tangible, static tension that's been slowly but surely building between them. 

   She's been acting distant and anxious all night when Veronica asks her 

   "Is something wrong? You know you can talk to me Cher" Cheryl takes a minute to reply, fiddling with the sleeve of her leather jacket. Veronica brushes a strand of hair from Cheryl's face, which seems to give the red head a needed boost of confidence because she spills her guts to Veronica, she tells her that she likes her as more than a friend and apologizes in advance if Veronica doesn't feel the same.

She does feel the same, though. She really, honestly does. So she tells Cheryl that and they both laugh with relief because they were so nervous and these unspoken feelings had been hanging between them, heavy and uncertain and now it's been dissolved away by simply confessing them to each other and there's something new to replace it, bright and hopeful on the horizon. 

"Can I kiss you?" Cheryl asks uncertainly. It strikes Veronica how different Cheryl is from Betty, how she just asks for the things she wants outright rather than trying to wheedle and pry them from you in a way that you don't realize what she was doing until years later. She nods, and when they kiss she can't stop herself from smiling into it.

* * *

   Cheryl is like the sun and the rain all at once. Cheryl is rebirth. She regrows the garden in Veronica's soul that Betty trampled carelessly over and heals the chasm in her heart, but mostly Cheryl loves Veronica as her a person with all her flaws and quirks rather than an inanimate object that she can twist and bend to her will.

Maybe it's fate that brought them together or higher power or perhaps just a simple coincidence, but whatever it was Veronica is endlessly grateful for it.

* * * 

  Veronica feels she has to tell Cheryl about Betty, Cheryl has a vague idea of what had happened from little things Veronica has accidentally let slip in passing, but she thinks Cheryl deserves the entire story. She's afraid that if she  
doesn't tell her it will sit between them, heavy and uncomfortable for as long as they're together.

Maybe it was fate or some higher power that brought them together, or perhaps it was just a coincidence, whatever it was Veronica is endlessly thankful for it.

* * *

  It's not until they've been dating for nearly a year that she feels ready, they're lying in bed in their darkened bedroom one hot summer night, Veronica's head is resting on Cheryl's chest as she strokes the other girl's raven hair. Neither of them can sleep. 

   "Cheryl?" She asks, her voice is nervous 

    "Yes, love?" 

    "Can I tell you about Betty Cooper?" She sits up to look the redhead in the eyes, Cheryl looks surprised, and like she knows how momentous this is for Veronica. Cheryl nods and takes her hand, squeezing it. 

   "Of course" She offers a gentle smile, Veronica takes a deep breath and begins,

    "I'd never liked anyone as much as I liked Betty Cooper, she seemed so genuinely kind and good. It felt like we were meant to be" Veronica pauses to laugh sadly, and a little bitterly "So when she asked me out I was thrilled and at first it was amazing I was so happy, but then after a couple of months things started going down hill. Betty got...controlling and manipulative, she hated me hanging out with anyone but her or even having any interests that she didn't share" Veronica took a deep breath "It was slippery slope, she made me quit the Pussy Cats and stop spending time with my friends. Soon I was completely cut off from anyone but her." She paused again "At the beginning of senior year I got really into photography and people said I was really talented at it, I wanted to go to college for it– so I applied to some art colleges and got in to quite a few I wanted to go to the California art institute, but when I told Betty she said  that she was going to take a job at the local paper that her parent's owned and she wanted me to stay with her. She never yelled, instead she did what she always did, she talked me into it, convincing me that my aspirations were less important than hers. And I couldn't refuse at this point, I felt like I was nothing without Betty, I had no identity outside of her. And I think that was what she wanted." Veronica's voice is shaky as she recalls the last part "So that fall when everyone else was heading off to start their lives in new exciting places, we stayed in Riverdale and we lived in this little apartment with two rooms and I got a job at Pop's" tears well in her eyes "Then one day without any warning I woke up to an empty apartment and a note on the table 'I had to get out of this town I'll contact you soon!! Sorry xoxo – B'  As if she just went out to get groceries or something, it was like she used me up and took everything from me and when was done just... discarded me like I was trash. She never contacted me and for maybe three or four months I just went through the motions waiting for her to call or text or something. Then I left, I left Riverdale and lived in my car for a couple of months I ended up in New York City and started taking photography courses and eventually landed the job I have now." She's crying softly now.

  They sit in silence for several minutes, as Veronica weeps quietly into Cheryl's chest when she breaks the silence with

   "Thank you for telling me" 

    "Thank you for listening" Veronica replies, wiping her tears from her cheeks. The she hesitates contemplating the weight of the words she's about to say "I love you, Cheryl" and for the first time since Betty the words don't taste sour or empty in her mouth. Cheryl's full lips split into a smile, the kind that you reserve for the best things – and the best people – in your life.

  "I love you, too, Ronnie" she pulls the raven haired girl into her embrace and they doze off, both of their hearts full.


End file.
